Saturday, October 1, 2011

31 Days Of Horror: Day 1 - My Top 25 Favorite Scream Queens (Revised)

In lieu of this month being October, I decided to revise my favorite scream queens list. Say bye to Neve Campbell, Jessica Biel, Heather Langekamp and Drew Barrymore. Say hello to Barbara Shelley, Barbara Steele, Caroline Munro and others. And a new number one.











25. Tippi Hedren - Starred in two Hitchcock films, The Birds and Marnie. Her character Melanie from The Birds is particulary good as she is a young woman who is carefree and fun until being swept up into the frenzy of the Birds. And she co-starred with her own daughter, Melanie Griffith for the flick Roar, facing off against ravenous jungle beasts.

Ingrid Pitt
24. Ingrid Pitt - Best known for playing seductive female vampires in Hammer Films during the early 70's. The films included Countess Dracula and The Vampire Lovers. She also starred in other horror classics such as The Wicker Man and The House That Dripped Blood.

Sarah Michelle Gellar
23. Sarah Michelle Gellar - You knew I had to have my girl on the list. Of course her most important role as been the slayer on TV's Buffy, but she has made several horror flicks including I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, The Grudge, and The Return.


Amy Steel
22. Amy Steel - With so many Friday the 13th movies being made, it was hard to choose one actress from the series. But Ms. Steele did a hell of a job in Part 2 as she survived her encounter with Jason..barely. She also did the semi spoof April Fool's Day which did have her running and screaming from a new killer. And plus I had a major crush on her back in the day.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead
21. Mary Elizabeth Winstead - young new actress who has made an impact with several horror films including Final Destination 3, The Ring 2, Black Christmas, and Death-Proof.


Van Helsing
20. Kate Beckinsale - started out in very British dramas but has detoured into horror and sci-fi of late with The Underworld series, Van Helsing, Vacancy, and her new thriller Whiteout.


From Beyond
19. Barbara Crampton - the go to gal during the 80's with Re-Animator, Chopping Mall, Puppet Master and From Beyond.


Invasion of the Body Snatchers
18. Veronica Cartwright - started young with Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and then grew into adult roles such as the 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Alien, and The Witches of Eastwicke.

Cassandra Peterson
17. Cassandra Peterson - Better know as her alter ego Elvira, Mistress of the dark. Funny, sexy, and can be deadly if need be.


 














16. Suzan Farmer - British actress and one of Hammer Studios starlets during their 60's heyday. Most notable film is Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966). But she also starred in Monster of Terror, and Rasputin the Mad Monk.


Linda Blair
15. Linda Blair - went through hell for The Exorcist. That alone is enough to put her on this list.

Sissy Spacek
 14. Sissy Spacek - most identified with Carrie, the telekinetic teen who went off at her high school prom. Did she ever....

Jennifer Jason Leigh


13. Jennifer Jason Leigh - Several standout roles include Single White Female, The Hitcher, and Buried Alive. Let's not forget her pairing with the other scream queen Kathy Bates for Dolores Claiborne.


shirley anne field
12.  Shirley Anne Field -British actress who made her mark in the "kitchen sink films" of this period such as Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. But she also did some horror films such These Are The Damned and Peeping Tom.

 
Movie: Star Crash ( 1979 )
11. Caroline Munro - What is this? The British Invasion...as Caroline makes her appearance on my fave scream queens list. Notable films include the cult classic Captain Kronos, Vampire Hunter, Dr. Phibes Rises Agains and Dracula A.D. She also starred in the Bond flick The Spy Who Loved Me and journeyed with Sinbad on his Golden Voyage (1973).

Naomi Watts
 
10. Naomi Watts - Acted for a while but never really hit her stride until she tried horror films which included The Ring 1 & 2, the updated King Kong, Funny Games, and Mulholland Drive.
Kathy Bates in Misery
9. Kathy Bates - One of two scream queens on the list with an Oscar on her mantle thanks to her psycho turn as Annie Wilkes in Misery. Also starred in Dolores Claiborne with fellow scream vet Jennifer Jason Leigh.


Cujo
8. Dee Wallace - usually portrayed the mom who battle against all kinds of demons and monsters in such films like The Howling, Cujo, The Hills Have Eyes, Critters, and The Frighteners.


Jodie Foster
7. Jodie Foster - here is the other scream queen with not one but two Oscars sitting on her shelf. Starring roles in Silence of the Lambs, The Accused, Panic Room, and Flight Plan put Jodie on this list without a doubt.

Barbara Steel in 'I lunghi capelli della morte'


6. Barbara Steele - Star of one the most known horror films of all time, Black Sunday. Steele also has to her credit such films like The Pit and The Pendulum, Nightmare Castle, She-Beast and Piranha (1978).

 Janet Leigh as Marion Crane


5. Janet Leigh - history making role of Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. The shower scene became legendary.























4. Barbara Shelley - Village of the Damned. Dracula: Prince of Darkness. Five Million Years To Earth. The Gorgon. One of the 60's busiest horror/sci-fi actresses around. And she is a damned good actress to boot too.


Get away from her,you bitch!!


3. Sigourney Weaver - as Warrant Officer Ellen Ripley, she battle space monsters in the Alien film series 4 times. Also entered The Village and played in Death and The Maiden. And let's not forget she turned into a dog in Ghostbusters.
Laurie Strode


2. Jamie Lee Curtis - My former number one scream queen. First and foremost she battled Michael Meyers in the original Halloween. Then she had a streak of horror flicks from the late 70's through the early 80's including the sequel to Halloween, Prom Night, Terror Train, Road Games, The Fog and Mother's Boys. Came back to the Halloween franchise for H20 and picked up right where she left off. Of course Jamie had success in other types of film like Trading Places and A Fish Called Wanda, but to most fans she will be remembered for her classic turns in horror flicks.




















1.  Adrienne Barbeau - She came so close to being my top scream queen a year ago, well now she is. Adrienne is a horror veteran of such films as The Fog, Swamp Thing, Creepshow, and Escape From New York. She did horror very well, I must say!






















Honorable mentions are legendary Fay Wray (who I've only seen in the original King Kong), Kathleen Quinlan, Milla Jovovich, Adrienne King, Winona Ryder, and lots more

1 comment:

morleysaurus said...

Veronica Cartright *cough*Jeffrey Spenders Mum in The X Files*cough cough* :D And Naomi Watts, I still think of her as Jet Girl in Tank Girl, heehee! <3